May 26, 2006
For Immediate Release
Contact:  Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

 Smith Crew In Contention for National Championship

 Princeton, NJ:  The Smith Pioneers will vie for the NCAA Women’s Division III National Championship tomorrow at the Finn Caspersen Rowing Center in West Windsor, NJ. The Smith II boat will race in the Petite Final at 11:15 a.m. with the Smith I boat competing in the Grand Final at 11:30 a.m.

            In races today, the Pioneers’ Smith II boat won the Petite qualifier in a time of 6:57.8010 defeating Colby I (6:59.2530), Trinity II (7:00.5450), Ithaca II (7:00.9250), Tufts II (7:02.0570) and Puget Sound II (7:06.6540). 

            Less than 4.5 seconds separated all six boats in the Grand qualifier. Williams II won the race in a time of 6:46.8650 followed by Tufts I (6:47.0460), Trinity I (6:48.1070), Smith I (6:49.5590), Puget Sound (6:50.2300) and Lewis & Clark (6:51.1710).The top four finishers from this race will join Ithaca I and Williams I , who already qualified for the Grand Final by winning their respective heats today, in the Grand Final tomorrow.  

            To determine the team champion, each boat is awarded points for their place of finish.  The Grand Final will score 12 -7 for first through sixth place and the Petite final 6-1 for seventh through twelfth place.  The team with the most points will win the team championship.